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He got jumped on for his silly comment about 'appears safe'...if you really are that scared on a Sunday morning in that area....well.....he needs to stay in Cary (not that Cary is crime free either).
Like I said, I am not comfortable in the city. I was a bit freaked out when I was downtown before, except for Fayetteville Street. I don't know what the Five Points area is like or what it is surrounded by, so how would I know if it is safe or not. It's an unknown to me.
Come on folks, you are looking way too far into "appears safe." There are areas in any rural or urban areas that are safe and unsafe. If you are not familar with them, how do you know.
I once got a flat tire in a very rough area of East LA, many years ago, at the top of an off ramp. A police officer came by (very nice African American officer) and told me he saw my tire go flat and followed me. He said if my tire were ever to go flat again, or were to have car trouble in the area, to call 911 as soon as I noticed, as I would likely not get out alive.
The bad neighborhoods in the Triangle area are rough, but not anything compared to most big citie's "bad neighborhoods." There are places, many in fact, in this country, that if you get stranded in, you won't come out alive. People don't want to believe that, but it is true.
take a left on fairview, a left on cowper then a right at the four way stop and a left on Holt. then take a right on Harvey until it connects with St Mary's. Take a left on St Mary's then a left onto Williamson back to Glenwood. Try the brunch at NOFO and then a cup of coffee at the Third Place. Pretty rough area. you might try a grab a slice of pizza at lilly's if the crowd does not scare you.
This is an excellent tour route uncletupelo. But, I think I'd pull them back up Carr St. from Williamson and left again on Harvey and right on Jarvis to Fairview and back to 5 Points.
The other route I would suggest is to take White Oak behind Hayes Barton Church and follow it all the way to Lassiter Mill Rd. Turn left on St. Mary's and follow it back to Glenwood and turn left again. That's a really beautiful drive too. Of course, White Oak is a bit hard to follow because it bears left at Oxford Rd and those unfamiliar with the area might miss it.
For another day, we can map out some great Budleigh and Country Club Hills routes too.
As for Cameron Park, I think that this one is best done on foot during the Spring.
can't forget lake and east lake drive off white oak. Kittrell, Kenmore and Lochmore are very magical streets to me. i cannot forget byrd, beechridge or toxey. raleigh is blessed with some fine classic old in-town hoods. Mcdonald lane is neat as well.
Alright. Here is my report on our trip to the Five Points area. Keep in mind that we did not see every street and this view comes from someone who is much more at home closer to country, rather than city.
The Five Points area seemed to be big enough to give you the feeling that you are not stuck in the middle of downtown. Therefore I would not feel overly "unsafe" there. I would still feel more comfortable further into the outlying suburbs, but it wasn't that bad of a feel.
We found some real nice McMansions that were kept up very well. There were also many other homes that needed a lot of work. I prefer the condition of homes to be much more even, but Five Points was still a better grade than the extremely hit or miss housing closer into downtown.
We had lunch at Tropical Smoothie Café. They had great wraps and I highly recommend them. They are in The Shops at Oberlin Court. This was our favorite area. It was our speed and what we would gravitate to, but would want it on a much larger scale.
We noticed that most people puttering around their yards were older folks. That is a plus for us. On the other hand, we noticed that most of the folks in and around the shops were 20 somethings. That is a definite negative for us. We do not care for the 20 something crowd.
We noticed some sections had some great tree specimens and we will have to go back during the summer to check them out in all their glory. The heavy landscaping reminds me of many parts of Cary, so that is a plus.
There were sidewalks everywhere, which we consider a plus. Unfortunately, they are narrow, older and in some need of repair. We prefer the newer curb/sidewalk combo that is wider and in better condition.
While there are plenty of sidewalks to walk on, we thought that walking to "things" would be more convenient than it actually was. Most of the homes we drove by would leave you with quite a long walk to actually get to things. Now that we have so much right outside our front door and more on the way, we realize how spoiled we have truly become.
I have noticed people that favor the Five Points area make fun of Cary for being a "beige" town. This really struck me in Five Points because the vast majority of homes are either red brick, grey stone or white siding. I think there is actually less color in Five Points than just about anywhere we have been. Now I am not saying that is a bad thing, because every neighborhood has it's own vibe going. It just struck me odd, given some of the comments I have read.
The area seems to lend itself to a neighborhood feel. That is a plus. I find many locations in Cary have the same vibe, while others do not. It's probably a personal thing and you know it as soon as you drive into any development. It either has it for you or it does not.
The streets are narrow, there are a ton of intersections and the traffic is busy and tight. This was the big negative for us. We felt closed in. This is not comfortable for people that came from wide open spaces with few roads that weave through the country. This would stop us from living in the city. For other, it is not an issue.
The place did have activity, which is far better than the situation further into downtown.
Overall I think the Five Points area can be a nice place to live for those that work in downtown Raleigh and want a place close by that gives them the feeling of getting away from the city. However, the location doesn't work that well for people who work elsewhere, which is the majority of people. For us it would work the opposite of what we would need. We would leave Five Points to go to work in RTP and then leave Five Points again to enjoy the things we love in Cary. It is worth a drive through to see several cool and well kept McMansions and some good landscaping. But in the end for us, we had a feeling of relief when when exited Raleigh and entered Cary. Cary just offers us the more open and peaceful feeling that we enjoy. But I do have to give props to the Five Points area for being better than many other parts of Raleigh. In my mind, it comes in 3rd in Raleigh behind North Raleigh and then Brier Creek.
Last edited by Charlton Dude; 02-08-2009 at 04:03 PM..
"a feeling of relief when we exited Raleigh and entered Cary"
I almost fell out of my chair for that one
They were the words right out of my wife's mouth. It wasn't relief like "oh my God, we could have been killed there". It was a feeling of relief by not being in a place that gave us the feeling of being somewhat trapped and moving into an area that has a better feel for us. Sort of like whenever you are away from home for a week and you walk back into you own home. That kind of feeling.
take a left on fairview, a left on cowper then a right at the four way stop and a left on Holt. then take a right on Harvey until it connects with St Mary's. Take a left on St Mary's then a left onto Williamson back to Glenwood. Try the brunch at NOFO and then a cup of coffee at the Third Place. Pretty rough area. you might try a grab a slice of pizza at lilly's if the crowd does not scare you.
I tripped on the sidewalk outside Lillie's once, almost spilled my beer, scariest moment of my life.
"a feeling of relief when we exited Raleigh and entered Cary"
I almost fell out of my chair for that one
I actually have a feeling of relief when I get back inside the beltline. It is a big scary beige world out there.
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Thank for the directions uncletupelo & rnc2mbfl
